Greenpeace court loss will embolden big oil to pursue protesters - experts

A pipeline company's victory in court over Greenpeace, and the huge damages it now faces, will encourage other oil and gas companies to legally pursue environmental protesters at a time when Donald Trump's "drill, baby, drill" energy agenda is in the ascendancy, experts have warned.

- Rachel Leingang

On Wednesday a North Dakota jury ruled three Greenpeace entities collectively must pay Energy Transfer, co-founded by a prominent Trump donor, more than $660m (£510m), deciding the organisations were liable for defamation and other claims after a five-week trial in Mandan, near where the Dakota Access pipeline protests occurred in 2016 and 2017.

"This verdict will embolden other energy companies to take legal action against protesters who physically block their projects," said Michael Gerrard of Columbia Law School's Sabin Center for Climate Change Law.

"It will chill those kinds of protests; whether the chilling goes beyond that remains to be seen. It won't inhibit litigation against fossil fuel projects; we will surely see more of those as the Trump administration advances its 'drill, baby, drill' agenda."

Kevin Cramer, a Republican senator for North Dakota, cheered Wednesday's judgment against Greenpeace over the pipeline protests in his state. "They can think twice now about doing it again," he said of Greenpeace and other environmental groups who protested against the pipeline.

Brian Hauss, an American Civil Liberties Union attorney, said the lawsuit serves as a "tax on speech", making it too expensive to go against "litigious, deep-pocketed corporations".